Opportunities
by Masterob
Summary: Rumble makes the most of a moment to befriend CMC member, Sweetie Belle. A RumBelle Oneshot.


A few young colts are in a park playing a nice game of Handball (or the pony equivalent of it). It was a nice quick game between four friends; Button Mash, Pipsqueak, Shady Daze and Rumble.

"Come on Pip, stop losing the ball!" Shady shouted at his friend.

"I'm doing the best I can! Quit hitting the ball so hard!" Pipsqueak shouted back.

"The point is to hit hard! You just need to be faster!" Shady shouted.

"That ball's gonna hurt somepony though!" Pipsqueak insisted.

Rumble sighed, this wasn't too unusual. He go with his friends to play a game and they usually end up arguing about something. This time it was because Shady would hit the ball hard and when it goes near Pip, he would duck out the way to avoid getting hurt.

"Maybe we should try something else," Rumble suggested.

"Yeah, I say we head back to my place for some video game multi-player action," Button said.

"No way, last time they started arguing about that too," Rumble said glumly.

"Like it's my fault he's a sore loser at fighting games," Shady said.

"You keep spamming the same attack!" Pipsqueak shouted.

"We can try that alien shooter thing," Button insisted.

"No way, Pip's a lousy shot," Shady reminded.

Pip grew frustrated, "Because you keep blocking me! You are one of the lousiest allies you can get in a video game!"

Shady and Pip looked like they were gonna tear into each other, so Rumble went to separate them.

"Come on guys, you're supposed to be friends, friends don't fight like this."

The two looked away from each other with a 'hmph', leaving Rumble to sigh somewhat relieved.

"Let's just play a little longer. We can think of something else to do in the meantime," Rumble suggested.

Shady and Pipsqueak nodded and got back into position to keep playing.

"Alright, try to get this one!" Shady hit the ball again pretty hard, causing it to bounce off the wall and nearly hit the colts, causing them to quickly duck as the ball flew over their heads.

Suddenly a loud yelp was heard.

"What was that?" Rumble asked, visibly worried about the sound he just heard.

"It sounded like a filly in pain," Button said, slightly concerned himself.

"Think the ball might have hit somepony?" Shady asked.

Pip glared at Shady, "I told you that would happen! Now you've gone and hurt somepony!"

Shady looked around nervously, "Wait, we don't know that! Maybe it's nothing!"

They heard the sound of a filly voice in the distance with a very familiar country accent.

"You ok there Sweetie Belle!?"

Pip suddenly felt a wave of nervousness and guilt, "That was Apple Bloom. And I think our ball hit Sweetie Belle."

Shady started to sweat nervously, "We don't know that, maybe she tripped or something!"

Shady did a nervous chuckle to ease the tension, but heard another filly voice, an angry sounding one.

"Who's stupid ball is this!?"

Pip gulped nervously, "That was Scootaloo's voice, and she sounds really mad!"

"What do we do!?" Button asked in a panic.

"It's quite simple," Shady started saying, then turned to leave, "We run!"

"Hold it!" Rumble shouted before anyone can start running, "Let me handle this, maybe I can talk some sense into them."

Button scoffed, "Good luck with that, those girls are really whacked out!"

"You shouldn't talk," Rumble said almost deadpanned. "Anyway I'm gonna go see what happened, maybe we can smooth things over a little."

The three colts nodded as Rumble made his way towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders. His friends could only watch as he went into the frontlines.

"He's gonna get his butt kicked, I'm sure of it," Button said.

"We'll step in if that happens though right?" Pip asked.

Button raised his eyebrow, "You kidding? The first sign of danger I'm gonna bail!"

"Same here, Scootaloo's pretty tough and Apple Bloom's pretty strong. Let's not forget that Sweetie Belle has improved on her magic so she's gonna be trouble too," Shady explained.

Pip looked a bit unsure of those statements, he always found the Cutie Mark Crusaders to be really nice fillies, even if they are overly excited. In fact that's what makes them fun to be around, they have that excitable energy.

Rumble walked toward the sight of the three fillies and the handball. He saw Sweetie Belle rubbing her head, looking to be in a degree of pain, but nothing too bad from what he saw.

Apple Bloom looked to be checking intently on her and seems to at the very least just making sure that Sweetie Belle doesn't start crying. He had to admit, if he saw her crying, it would tug at him a little, she seems like such a nice filly.

Scootaloo looked furious, she was ready to hurt anything that looked at her the wrong way. Rumble wasn't too eager to go near her but there are times he had to step up and face certain things. He just wishes this wasn't one of those times.

Rumble took a breath before approaching the three, hoping that things go well.

"Hey, is everything ok here?"

Apple Bloom turned her attention to Rumble, a little surprised to see him there. "Oh, hello there. Things ain't too good right now, Sweetie Belle got hit pretty hard by this here ball."

Scootaloo got in Rumble's face, "You didn't have anything to do with that, did you!?"

Rumble shook his head. "No, not exactly at least."

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "What do you mean 'Not Exactly'?"

"What I mean is, it happened while I was playing with my friends. We lost control of the ball and I guess that's how Sweetie Belle got hurt," Rumble explained, hoping to sooth Scootaloo's anger.

Unfortunately she didn't seem to lighten up, she just seemed even more agitated, "Ok then, which one of your friends lost control of the ball?"

Rumble raised his eyebrow a bit unsure, "If I tell you, are you gonna hurt them?"

"Maybe, not important. Just tell me who did it," Scootaloo demanded.

"Uh, with all due respect Scootaloo, I can't risk you hurting my friends, I'm not gonna tell you," Rumble said, though the look in her eyes almost made him regret that answer.

"If you don't tell me, then maybe I'll beat you up until you spill the beans!" Scootaloo threatened.

Rumble backed away to avoid a possible beatdown from Scootaloo, but luckily Apple Bloom stepped in front of her.

"Come on Scoots, don't go blaming Rumble. What's important now is that we just get Sweetie Belle home so Rarity can look over her."

Scootaloo sighed, "Yeah, Sweetie Belle should get checked out. So you do that while I go beat up those colts!"

Scootaloo rushed past Rumble and towards the other colts.

"Oh crap! She's coming for us!" Button shouted and ran away with Shady and Pip while Scootaloo chased them.

"Get your sorry flanks back here!"

As Scootaloo chased the colts, Rumble let out a deep sigh, this wasn't gonna end well. Apple Bloom approached him with a sympathetic face, "Listen, I'll go calm down Scootaloo, would you mind getting Sweetie Belle to her sister's house? You know where it is right?"

Rumble nodded, "Yeah, she stays at The Carousel Boutique. But are you sure you want-"

Rumble didn't get to finish his sentence, Apple Bloom had already ran off to stop Scootaloo from hurting the colts.

"Come on Scoots! Pip's there! You can't hurt Pip!" He heard Apple Bloom shout. With a sigh he turned to Sweetie Belle, she was still rubbing the spot on her head.

The young colt was concerned over this, suppose she's mad at him for her getting hurt. Only one way to find out. He approached the filly a bit nervously, "Um, are you able to walk?"

Sweetie Belle raised her eyebrow, "Of course, the ball hit my head, not my leg."

Rumble chuckled nervously, "Right, of course...so maybe we should go find your sister?"

Sweetie Belle looked a bit unsure on him. He's acting really weird, but he is trying to be helpful so she could go along with it. "That'd be nice."

Rumble sighed in relief, at least he's getting somewhere. He offered to help her up but she put up her hoof.

"I got it," She stood and and offered a smile, "Ok ready to take me?"

Rumble nodded. "Yeah, I am." He looked around a bit, checking each side of town before sheepishly turning back to Sweetie Belle. "Where is your sister's Boutique?"

Sweetie Belle gave him a half lid stare, "Seriously?"

Rumble blushed a bit, "I don't go there on a regular basis, I've only seen it in passing."

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, I can find it from just about any part of Ponyville, just come with me."

Rumble nodded and followed the filly. He felt kinda stupid, then again he was kinda thrown into this situation with little preparation.

Sweetie kept walking, though after a few minutes of doing so, she turned to the side and took notice of Rumble. She could see he felt a bit awkward, Apple Bloom kinda sprung this on him so it makes sense that he might feel that way. She barely knows Rumble too. She just knows that he's the younger brother of a stallion named Thunderlane, who Rarity has spoken fondly of on occasion.

She knows it's at least nice that he's at least trying to be of help despite awkwardness of this situation, he does seem like a nice colt. She wonders why she doesn't see more of him?

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat to speak, "Um, excuse me?"

Rumble turned to her, "Yeah, what is it?"

"Nothing just...thanks for at least escorting me, I know this was just sprung on you and you didn't have to do this but I do appreciate it," Sweetie said.

Rumble smiled at her, "No problem, though I still feel a bit useless. I didn't even know where your sister's house was."

"It's fine, you're still keeping me company, you're a nice boy um...Rumble was it?"

Rumble nodded, "Yeah, my name's Rumble."

"Right, and obviously you know my name is Sweetie Belle."

"Everypony in school knows your name. You girls are very well known for your search for your Cutie Marks," Rumble pointed out.

Sweetie Belle blushed a bit, "Oh, looks like we're kinda popular huh?"

"Sorta, though you did have a big impact recently. You all helped Pip out as Campaign Managers, you helped Diamond Tiara turn over a new leaf, and you all even finally got your Cutie Marks, at the same time no less, and they all look the same too."

Sweetie looked at her Cutie Mark, "Yeah, though they're not totally the same. While we all have shields, Apple Bloom has a heart with an apple in the center, Scootaloo has a wing with a lightning bolt in the center, mine is a star with a music note in the center."

"Music note? So does that mean you can sing?" Rumble asked.

Sweetie had a look of uncertainty in her face, "Sorta...I guess".

Rumble raised his eyebrow, "You guess? If it's part of your cutie mark I'm pretty sure it means you're a good singer."

"I really don't like to though, at least not in public, other ponies might hate it or laugh," Sweetie admitted.

Rumble pitied the young filly, even with a Cutie Mark she still seems pretty down on herself. "I'm sure it's not so bad, maybe one day you can sing for me and I can tell you if you're good. Though I'm pretty sure you would be, you have a nice voice when you talk, imagine how it sounds when you sing."

Sweetie Belle blushed at that, "You think my voice is nice?"

Rumble realized what he said, "Oh um...did I say that out loud? What I meant was...Hey there's your sister's place, let's go!"

Rumble picked up the pace, hoping to avoid that awkward moment. He really needs to pay attention to the stuff he says. Sweetie Belle found it cute though, the way he reacted to her pointing out his compliment.

They arrived at the front door of the Boutique within seconds. Rumble took the opportunity to knock and they waited a few seconds before Rarity had answered the door.

"Hello, welcome to the Carousel Bou-" Rarity stopped mid-sentence when she saw Sweetie Belle, "-Oh it's you Sweetie Belle, didn't expect you home so soon, I thought you were playing with your friends?"

Rarity then noticed Rumble near Sweetie Belle, just standing there shyly, not making too much eye contact. The little he made was limited to a small wave.

"Oh my, who do we have here?" Rarity said with a sly grin and then turned to Sweetie Belle. "You should have told me you were bringing a colt here, he's quite handsome."

Sweetie Belle had a big awkward blush, Rumble also had a slight one at the accusations.

"It's not like that! He just escorted me because I got hurt today, a ball hit my head and caused a bump," Sweetie explained and pointed to the bump.

Rarity did an examination of her bump, "I see, it's small but there. Don't worry I can take care of that, come on in and I'll get that taken care of."

Sweetie nodded and went inside. Rumble was contemplating on whether or not he should leave, but Rarity called to him.

"Would you like to come inside dear? Considering you were nice enough to escort my little sister, I feel you deserve a little something nice."

Rumble shook his head. "You don't have to get me anything, I didn't mind escorting her."

"I know I don't have to dear, but I would like to," Rarity offered.

Rumble contemplated that a bit before responding, "Ok I guess. My brother always told me never to disappoint a pretty mare after all."

Rarity giggled, "Pretty mare? Aren't you the gentlecolt?"

Rumble again blushed at his choice of words. "Um wait, what I meant was-"

"It's fine dear, you're not the only colt to have said that about me, now come on in," Rarity said.

Rumble nodded and went inside. He was hardly ever in the Boutique but he did look impressed at some of the designs he saw. Rarity sure was a hard worker, even if he would never wear half this stuff, he could appreciate hard work.

"Why don't you both sit down while I grab the medical supplies?" Rarity offered.

The two foals nodded and obliged, heading towards the couch as Rarity went to find a kit to use.

The Foals sat on the couch a bit awkwardly. Given what happened on the way over, plus what Rarity said. In fact the whole situation was random. Rumble wonders how exactly he got into this situation, he barely knows the Crusaders yet one of them asked him to keep an eye on their friend.

Though they're usually friendly girls, and while he barely knows them, he had never given them a reason to believe that he would be trouble. He's no bully by any means and they likely see him as responsible. In fact, compared to his friends, he is the most mature.

"So..." Sweetie said, attempting to break the ice, "What do you do for fun?"

Rumble tapped his chin, "Um, I guess fly around with my brother and foal sitters."

"Fly around? That's neat. Do you want to be in the Wonderbolts?" Sweetie asked.

"Probably, I know my brother wants to, and my foalsitter Cloudchaser also wants to be one. They even went to the Academy to train," Rumble said.

"Oh yeah, that's how my sister met your brother, she keeps talking about him sometimes," Sweetie said.

Rumble nodded with a slight blush. He remembers his brother coming home and how he boasted about helping a gorgeous unicorn, and he also remembers Cloudchaser mentioning an awkward moment with Fluttershy.

"Yeah, my brother mentioned that a reckless pony named Lightning Dust caused some trouble at the Academy, but that Rainbow Dash stepped in and helped sort things out," Rumble added.

"Yeah, once Scootaloo heard that story, it only added to how much she idolized Rainbow Dash," Sweetie Belle added.

Rumble thought to that as well. It's no secret that Scootaloo looked up to Rainbow Dash, and wished she too could fly like her. Rumble admired Scootaloo's determination, one thing he wishes he could have.

"Scootaloo's pretty nice, even if she is a little brash at times," Rumble said.

Sweetie nodded in agreement. She cared for Scootaloo but she has to admit when her friend is being thick-headed.

"Scootaloo means well, though the only reason she seemed angry today was because I got hurt. She had a tendency to be a little protective of me," Sweetie said.

"She just cares about you, both your friends do. You three get along so well, I wish mine could get along a little better. They have a tendency to argue over stupid things," Rumble said.

Sweetie scoffed, "Like my friends don't argue. We've had our disagreements too, especially when it came to how we should go about getting our cutie marks."

Rumble looked surprised, "Wow really?"

Before Sweetie Belle could elaborate, Rarity had arrived with the medical supplies. "I'm just gonna apply a little medicine here, and maybe a little magic, and the bump should go down."

Sweetie nodded as Rarity tended to her bump.

"Quite a bump, nothing too bad though. How did this happen?" Rarity asked.

Rumble rubbed his head a little, "It's kinda my fault, well my friends as well. You see me and my friends were playing with a ball and one of them hit it really hard against the wall. It must have connected with Sweetie Belle right afterwards. I'm really sorry."

Rarity patted Rumble's head a moment. "It's fine dear, accidents happen, you don't need to fault yourself. I'm sure your friends didn't think anypony would get hurt."

"Yeah, they were too confident, well at least two of them. My other friend was afraid somepony would get hurt but they didn't think it could happen," Rumble added.

"Well regardless, as long as Sweetie's not too hurt then it's fine," Rarity then turned to Rumble. "But I do thank you for tending to my sister, you're a very well mannered young colt."

Rumble blushed a bit, "I'm just doing what my foal sitters teach me. Always be helpful, and always be nice to fillies."

Rarity found that answer absolutely adorable. It's nice to see a young gentlecolt, no doubt if he stays on this path he'll grow to be a fine young stallion.

"Your foal sitters have taught you well. As has your brother," Rarity said.

Rumble nodded, "Thank you Miss Rarity."

Rarity had finally finished patching up Sweetie Belle, "There, the swelling should go down soon. Would you like to stay home or do you want to go back and play with your friends?"

Sweetie thought about that a moment, "I would like to go play with my friends, though considering Scootaloo is going to beat up the colts who did this and Apple Bloom's trying to stop her I don't know-"

"Wait, Scootaloo's going to what!?" Rarity asked in a shocked tone.

"She said she's gonna go after the colts who did this, she's already chasing them," Sweetie explained.

Rarity looked really concerned, "I see, I can't let that happen though, fighting never solves anything."

"You fought Changelings though," Sweetie reminded.

"Yes but that was to protect Equestria, this is just pitiful behavior, now then I'm going to go find your friends," Rarity turned to Rumble. "Rumble dear, would you mind watching over Sweetie Belle a moment longer?"

"I don't mind, but be careful," Rumble said.

"Don't worry about me deary, I'll be back," Rarity went outside to look for the foals.

Rumble turned to Sweetie Belle, "Your sister really fought Changelings?"

Sweetie nodded, "Yeah, at the Canterlot Wedding."

"Wow, my brother wasn't making things up. Your sister's like a superhero. I always thought she and her friends were cool, but now they're much cooler," Rumble said.

Sweetie rolled her eyes, "My sisters isn't _that_ cool, she can be a little odd."

"Aw, but she seems really nice, she cares about you too, and that's important," Rumble said.

"I guess...so what do you wanna do now?" Sweetie asked.

Rumble thought about it a moment, "Wanna go to Sugarcube Corner? I'll treat you to an ice cream and maybe you'll feel even better."

Sweetie beamed at that, "I love ice cream, wait you sure you don't mind?"

Rumble shook his head, "I don't mind really. I hate that you got hurt because of me and my friends, so I'd like to make it up to you."

Sweetie rubbed her chin a little, "I guess, though you don't have to do that just because of all this. I'm not mad, you guys didn't do it on purpose or anything."

Rumble fidgeted around a bit, "I know but...I guess I just...you see..." He couldn't get the words out. Sweetie Belle caught on though so she decided to give in.

"But if you really want to treat me, then I guess that's fine. My sister did say she likes when a stallion treats her somewhere nice, not that it usually happens, if it happens at all," Sweetie added.

Rumble nodded, "Ok, come on then."

The two young foals made their way to Sugarcube Corner. This time the walk wasn't too awkward, they seemed to actually enjoy each other's company. There was so much one wanted to learn about the other.

"So are you good at magic?" Rumble asked.

"Sorta, I'm still getting used to it. But I have the basics down at least," Sweetie explained.

"That's good, maybe you can be as great as Princess Twilight is one day," Rumble said.

"Oh I'm not too worried on being as good as Twilight, that's Trixie's job. I just want to at least be decent," Sweetie said.

"Oh, well it's still something. Me, I hope to be as great as a flyer as my brother," Rumble said.

"Shouldn't you wanna be as good as Rainbow Dash?" Sweetie asked.

"That's a really big goal. Rainbow Dash is the best flyer in Ponyville, she's almost as good as The Wonderbolts," Rumble stated.

"Don't underestimate yourself, maybe you can be as good as Rainbow Dash, I mean weren't you the only colt that took part in Tornado Day? That must mean you could be a REALLY great flyer," Sweetie emphasized.

Rumble blushed a bit, "Maybe I guess."

Sweetie Belle nuzzled against him a bit, "You just need a little extra confidence in yourself."

Rumble blushed at that, not just from her nuzzle but how nice she was to him. He's never really thought about being with fillies too much, at least not at a level like this. The closest he's had to crushing on a filly were his foal sitters Flitter and Cloudchaser. Flitter was always so nice and very cute, but Cloudchaser was so awesome and a great flyer.

Rumble looked up to them both, not just for being pretty and awesome mares, but because of how much they cared about him. He always valued what they taught him about things, whether it's social interaction, his flight skills and how to treat a filly. He might need some advice from them about Sweetie Belle though, maybe he's developing a crush on her.

Sweetie herself blushed at her actions, she was already getting close to this colt and she barely knows him. Then again her sister's known for being affectionate with stallions she barely knows, so Sweetie figures maybe it's natural to feel like this. She just wonders what is causing these emotions.

Is she getting a crush on him? Does he feel the same way? To be fair, he's already treating her to ice cream, maybe it's a date? Dates are normal, a good way to get to know somepony. But is it too fast? Maybe it's not a date, maybe he's just being friendly. But what if it turns into a date? What does she do?

Best not to question it too much, just go along with it. Besides she thinks he's really cute, in fact he's cuter than most colts she's seen. Not to mention he's athletic and will likely be a great flyer, and he's very gentle. Cute, gentle, athletic, a great package in her eyes.

It wasn't long before the two colts arrived at Sugarcube Corner where they were greeted by Pinkie Pie.

"Sweetie Belle! Hi!" She rushed over to the young filly and gave her an embrace. "It's super great to see you!"

Sweetie hugged back. "It's nice to see you too Pinkie."

Pinkie let go and looked around, "Where's your friends? Is Rarity here?"

Sweetie shook her head. "My friends are busy with...something else. And Rarity went to find them before they do something stupid. At least before Scootaloo does something stupid. I'm here with Rumble."

Sweetie gestured to the young colt, who shyly waved at Pinkie Pie.

"Hi Pinkie, nice to see you again."

Pinkie looked at Rumble a moment, then back to Sweetie Belle. Why would Sweetie be here with a colt and without her friends? Other than her friends being busy, she usually always goes somewhere with them, or is usually with them when they do something stupid. At least when Scootaloo does something stupid.

Pinkie then figured out the situation, or at least she thinks she did and then had a sly grin. "So, you're with a colt? Just the two of you?"

Sweetie suspiciously raised her eyebrow and nodded. "Yeah...Just me and Rumble."

Pinkie looked to the two, her grin still very evident, "So just you and a colt. A very handsome colt I might add."

The two foals began to blush, they knew where Pinkie was going with this.

"He's just treating me to some ice cream, that's all!" Sweetie Belle insisted.

That only encouraged Pinkie's suspicion as to why they're together. "So he's treating you huh? A handsome colt treating a pretty filly to ice cream? Just you both? You know what this means?"

Sweetie sweated a bit, "Please don't say-"

"SWEETIE BELLE HAS A COLTFRIEND! THAT'S SO EXCITING!" Pinkie shouted, getting the attention of nearby ponies in the bakery.

Sweetie Belle had a mad blush on her face. She loves Pinkie and all but why must she be so loud about certain things. She wouldn't dare look at the other ponies in the area, even though they didn't seem judgemental. They thought it was rather cute.

Rumble also had a bit of a blush, though not ads big as Sweetie Belle's. He looked around and saw the faces on the other ponies, most of them smiling or lightly giggling at the idea of young love. He offered a nervous smile to them though it still didn't relieve his awkward feeling.

"Can we please just get the ice cream Pinkie?" Sweetie said.

"Oh, sure thing! What do you want?" Pinkie asked.

"I want vanilla," Sweetie said.

"Chocolate please," Rumble said.

"Coming right up, you two lovebirds can take a seat over there," Pinkie said, pointing to a window seat.

The foals once again blushed, though unfortunately Pinkie is usually just to peppy to realize there's certain things she probably shouldn't be blurting out like that.

They sat at the window seat, though initially unsure on what to say to each other, given Pinkie's choice of words.

Eventually Rumble decided to speak up first, "So, what's it like having Rarity as an older sister?"

"Ok, she can be a pain but she at least tries to be a good sister. We just have too many differences in opinions. What about you and Thunderlane?"

"He's a good big brother, I always like to do flight training whenever we can."

"What's it like to fly anyway?" Sweetie asked.

"It's fun, soaring through the skies and feeling the wind on your face is very cool!" Rumble answered.

"Can you do tricks?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"A few, I'm still learning. My speed is decent though, at least according to Rainbow Dash," Rumble explained.

"Rainbow Dash? Did she watch you train?" Sweetie asked.

"Sorta, mainly for Tornado Day, I helped with bringing the water to Cloudsdale," Rumble said.

Sweetie's eyes widened, "Wow, you helped with that? You must be a great flyer then."

Rumble blushed a bit, and rubbed the back of his head, "It wasn't that big of a deal, the real star that day anyway was Fluttershy. Even my foal sitters were impressed."

"It' still nice of you to help like that, that must have been exhausting though," Sweetie said.

"It was, but we pulled it off," Rumble said.

Before long, Pinkie gave the two their ice cream, "Here you go, I hope you have fun on your date."

Sweetie blushed and glared a bit, "Pinkie..."

Pinkie got what she thought was the tip, "Oh right, you wanna be alone, I won't bother you two then."

She started to leave but then turned around to say one more thing, "Another thing, if you two wanna make out, I can let you use my room for some-"

"PINKIE!" Sweetie shouted. Her face was flushed in red and her eyes seethed in rage. Pinkie nervously chuckled and backed away to leave the two to their business.

Rumble was also heavily blushing. He's just getting to know Sweetie Belle, he's not ready to start kissing her, even if she is pretty.

Sweetie then took notice of Rumble, her angry blush turning more into a shy blush. She rubbed her head a bit, "Awkward."

Rumble chuckled, "Yeah, but you gotta love Pinkie Pie. She's so nice, even if she can be a little silly."

The two continued to converse, really getting to know each other. Sweetie talked more about the stuff the Crusaders did before they finally got their marks, she also talked a bit about her relationship with Rarity and how she became friends with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

Rumble talked a bit more about his brother and foal sitters and what he likes to do when by himself or with his friends.

They also started questioning why exactly a bakery was selling ice cream. Most likely Pinkie's idea, more sweets and treats.

Almost an hour had passed, Rumble once again escorted Sweetie Belle home.

"I had such a great time Rumble," Sweetie Belle admitted.

Rumble felt a sense of confidence after hearing that, he managed to take a filly on a 'date' and it actually turned out well.

"Glad you enjoyed yourself, I had fun too," Rumble said.

"We should do that again sometime soon," Sweetie Belle admitted.

Rumble blushed a bit, "So...you want another date?"

Sweetie giggled, "You said the word 'date'."

Rumble realized his slip and had a mad blush on his face. "Wait, what I meant was..."

"Easy there Rumble, it's fine. I don't mind calling it a date." Sweetie then had a mischievous smile, "In fact, I wouldn't mind calling you my coltfriend."

Rumble stopped a moment, his mind taking time to register what Sweetie Belle said to him. Did she seriously say 'Coltfriend'?

"Y-y-y-you want m-m-me to b-b-e your c-c-c-coltfriend?" Rumble managed to stammer out.

"Yeah, why do you not wanna be my coltfriend? I think I can be a good marefriend to you, don't you think so?" Sweetie gave him her cute and innocent eyes to help sway him. She has definitely learned a thing or two from Rarity, especially when it comes to wooing colts.

Rumble gulped a bit. Unfortunately he doesn't have his brother's confidence with fillies, though like his brother he tends to attract them. But Sweetie's eyes are really starting to help seal the deal.

"I...I wanna be your coltfriend...if you really want me to," Rumble managed to say.

Sweetie giggled some more, "You're so cute when you act shy. I'm not doing anything tomorrow afternoon, maybe we can go to the park and sit by the pond? Just us two?"

Rumble nodded nervously, "I'd like that."

Sweetie approached Rumble, face to face with the young nervous colt. "See you around then." She planted one kiss on his face and turned to head inside her sister's Boutique.

Rumble just stood there frozen, a cute filly had just kissed him. That same filly is now his marefriend. To top it all off, he has a date with that filly again.

"This..is...so...awesome!" Rumble said with much glee as he did a high pitched squee, "I got a marefriend".

He could barely contain his excitement and started dancing in place a little, "I got a marefriend!"

He leapt into the air and did a few tricks. "I got a marefriend! I got a marefriend! I got a-"

Rumble's little celebration ended when he saw Apple Bloom staring at him with a coy grin on her face.

"Oh crap..." Rumble lowered down a bit and stared off at the young Apple Farmer. "How much did you see?"

"Enough to potentially blackmail you," Apple Bloom admitted with a mischievous grin.

Rumble looked a bit concerned, "Please don't tell anypony, they already think I'm wimpy enough as it is, I don't need-"

Apple Bloom raised her hoof, "I'm just messing with yah, ah ain't gonna blackmail another pony. Especially when that pony is mah friend's coltfriend."

Rumble sighed in relief, he should have known better. Apple Bloom is a nice filly, she's not one to pull a dirty trick.

"Thanks...so you know about me being Sweetie Belle's coltfriend?" Rumble asked.

Apple Bloom nodded, "Ah arrived shortly after you got her here, just in time for you to confess that you want to be her coltfriend. First off, you gotta work on yer confidence when speaking."

Rumble groaned, even Apple Bloom was pointing out his inability to talk confidently.

"I'll ask my brother some tips on that, but it's just not my area of expertise," Rumble said.

"You can learn. Sweetie Belle doesn't need somepony to be all tough like, she just wants a colt that can be himself. To be honest, you've always seemed like a nice colt to be around, I'm glad to know ah was right about you," Apple Bloom said.

Rumble felt touched at Apple Bloom's words, she's such a nice filly, perhaps being Sweetie Belle's coltfriend can help him make another new friend in Apple Bloom. She seems to have the right sense of mind at the very least.

"You're really nice, Sweetie Belle sure has some good friends. Wait speaking of which, where's Scootaloo?" Rumble asked.

Apple Bloom pointed behind her showed a bummed out Scootaloo walking with an unhappy Rarity escorting her while giving her a lecture on behavior.

"I can't believe you chased those colts like that Scootaloo, you should know better than to act that foolish. It's good to know you care about Sweetie Belle but there are better ways to handle this type of situation. I'm very certain they would have apologized if you asked them to but even if they wouldn't it doesn't justify what you did."

Scootaloo groaned as Rarity continued her lecture, taking the young pegasus home.

Apple Bloom shook her head in shame. "Ah hope this doesn't affect yer view of Scootaloo. She's really nice, and a great friend, she just acts all tough sometimes. But she's really sweet once you get to know her. She does speak highly of you after all."

Rumble looked curious, "Wait she does? What for?"

"She says yer a great flyer, especially for a colt yer age. She wishes she could fly like you and hopes to one day do so. She says her first priority is to be better than you before she would even think of competing with Rainbow Dash," Apple Bloom said.

Once again, Rumble felt touched, he hadn't realized how nice these girls were. He never would have even guessed that Scootaloo thinks that well of him, especially with the way she threatened him earlier on. He'll chalk that up to her getting upset over Sweetie Belle getting hurt.

"By the way, as you know, me and mah friends finally got our Cutie Marks," Apple Bloom gestured to her Cutie Mark as she said that. "Since we have ours, we wanna help other blank flanks get theirs. So since yer gonna be dating Sweetie Belle and are gonna be spending a lot of time with us, do you wanna join our club?"

Rumble looked pretty curious. He never thought he could be a member of The Cutie Mark Crusaders, not that he had any intention to. However the girls were being nice to him and why not join them? It'd be nice to have some new friends.

"I'd love to, thanks," Rumble said with a genuine smile.

Apple Bloom beamed, "This is so exciting, ah can't wait to try some ideas with ya. Now we have an excuse to go Crusading again!"

Rumble nodded, "Sounds fun, anyway I need to get ready, I'm gonna take Sweetie Belle on another date tomorrow and I wanna be prepared."

"Oh, how about ah come home with ya and give you some pointers," Apple Bloom blushed a bit, "Then maybe introduce me to one of yer friends?"

Rumble raised his eyebrow, "Wait, which one?"

"Oh, I'll tell you later," Apple Bloom said as she walked off, "Bye now."

Rumble scratched his head, does Apple Bloom like one of his friends? Which one though? As he was in thought, Shady approached him from the side.

"There you are, what are you doing near the Boutique?"

Rumble turned to Shady, "Oh, hey there, looks like Scootaloo didn't beat you up."

"Yeah, I managed to outrun Scootaloo, Button wasn't too lucky however. Luckily Rarity came along to straighten things out. I owe her a nice spot in the school paper for that. Anyway you didn't answer my question, why are you at the Boutique? Did you tell Rarity what happened?"

"Sorta, it's a long story, let's round up the others and I'll tell you all about some big changes that just happened for me," Rumble said.

Shady raised his eyebrow, "What changes?"

"For one, I have a marefriend now," Rumble said with a confident smile.

Shady's eyes widened, "Say what!? Wait who is it!?"

"Let's just say that there was a bright side to all of this and you guys really helped me out," Rumble said.

Shady still couldn't believe this, Rumble has a marefriend? This is so odd.

"You have a lot to explain, let's go," Shady said.

Rumble nodded and ran off with Shady to find the others, some major things are happening right now and so far, it's looking great.


End file.
